Optical reflecting material



Sept. 13, 1949. 'r. e. JUNGERSEN OPTICAL REFLECTING MATERIAL OriginalFiled Feb. 8, ,1943

3 wuomlo o v FCQQKS M E S Q Q W 6 m G o Patented Sept. 13, 1949Application February 8, 1943, Serial No."475,155, which is a division ofapplication Serial No.

175,541, November 19, 1937.

Divided and this application May 23, 1945, Serial No. 595,342

1 Claim. (01. 88-78) 1 This invention relates to optical material forthe reflection of light and more particularly to material capable ofreflecting light from a source to a predetermined object or objects.

This application is a division of-application Serial No. 475,155, flledFebruary 8, 1943, now

Patent'2,380,447, which in turn is a division of application Serial'No.175,541, flled November 19,

l937,-which matured as Patent No. 2,310,790,

, dated February 9, 1943.

Previously known reflectors have been capable of reflecting light from agiven source to a particular object, but such reflectors have beendelicate, cumbersome, expensive to manufacture, requiring someprotecting means, generally not suitable for mass production and henceno wide use of such reflectors is found. A further disadvantage ofpreviously known reflecting means is found in the relatively large sizeof the parts or design necessary for the solution of particularreflecting problems. Examples of such known reflectors are disclosed inthe German patent to Hartman and Jungersen No. 362,136, patented October24, 1922, and the Danish patent to Norreso No. 33,653, patentedSeptember 1, 1924.

Reflectors of the type used today are as a rule fabricated, at leastinpart, of glass, which is relatively difflcult to manufacture into shapesother than those of the simplest form, which is easily broken and is soexpensive as to prohibit its use in many instances. Finally, reflectorsof this type when broken, lose the function of the entire reflector,perhaps at a time when it is most needed, for wide use of reflectors ismade for safety purposes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide reflecting material,capable of reflecting light in accordance with the manner desired, andof such nature as to facilitate its fabrication.

It is a further object to provide a reflecting material having areflecting surface of particular design.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic showing of a process for the formation offlexible sheet material bearing a reflecting surface in accordance withthe laws of optics;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a roll of such flexible reflectingmaterial;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a roll of refleeting material inaccordance with 'the invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of a reflecting surface inaccordance with the inven- Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 butshowing a modified form of reflecting surface; and

Fig. 6 is a view in section taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 1. a roll of flexible material 10, such as forexample, paper, fabric or metal or an organic material such as acellulose derivative or other organic or inorganic materials, may be fedthrough forming rollers II with or without the application of pressureor heat which impress upon the sheet material the proper opticalsurface. The now formed" material I! may be then filled-in byspraynozzle It or other suitable means with a transparent flexiblematerial, such as, for example, a cellulose derivative or other suitableorganic or inorganic material. The filled-in" material l4 may then bepassed through a chamber i5 wherein the fllling may be dried orotherwise treated whereby it may present a proper surface on itsexterior and form a, suitable bond between it and the flexible materialsbase. The finished material which may or may not be flexible, having aprotected reflecting surface of proper optical design it may then emergefrom the treating chamber 15 and may be rolled as shown in Fig. 2 or cutto various sizes or shapes for different purposes.

In Figure 3 a roll of reflecting material I6a is shown which may merelycomprise sheet metal formed in accordance with the laws of optics topresent a reflecting surface opera ive to reflect light in a desiredpredetermined manner. It is to be understood that the embodimentsillustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, may similarly comprise a singleelement.

It is often desirable to utilize a reflecting surface which willbeeffective to reflect light from different sources at various times whensaid sources are available to an object or objects more or lessconstantly located so far as the reflection of light is concerned. Forexample, such reflecting surface may be efl'ectively utilized on a signwhich has to be read both in the day time by light from the sky and atnight by light originating from the object itself or close by. Suchreflecting surfaces are depicted in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively. Thereflecting surface shown in Fig. 4 comprises a series of reflectin units39,

having a generally hexagonal outline and a tilted 3 plane or slightlycurved sm'face similar to those of facets ll of the reflecting materialshown in Fig. 3 of oopending application Serial No. 475,155 and Fig. 3of Patent No. 2,310,790.

The reflecting units 38 operate to reflect light back to a source andmay be eifectively used at night, for example to reflect light from theheadlights of automobiles back to their drivers. The reflecting units llare arranged to reflect light from another source, for example, the sky,whereby the same sign which is utilizedto reflect light from theheadlamps of an automobile back to its driver may be utilized in the daytime to reflect light from the sky-to the same driver. In Fig. 5, thereflecting units Hi operate to reflect light back to its source andperform a function similar to the reflecting units 30. In this figurethe reflecting units 42 are similar to the reflecting units 40 in Fig. 4and perform a similar function. The relative size of the reflectingunits may be much smaller than that shown'in the drawin and they may befabricated in a manner similar to that utilized in connection with theembodiments shown in Figures 3 to 9 inclusive ofcopending applicationSerial No. 475,155 and Figures 3 to 9 inculsive of Patent No. 2,310,790.The finished reflector may be flexible, easily cut, stamped out intorequired shapes for use in various places for safety signals, signs,illumination, decorations, etc. The facets may occur as often as ten oreven one hundred to the inch.

The different types of reflecting units in each of the modificationsshown in Figs. 4 and may be arranged in alternate rows as shown in Figs.

4 and 5, or in other geometrical designs. or they may be heterogeneouslydispersed throughout the entire reflecting surface. or they may bearranged in accordance with a scheme or plan to reflect one particularsign during the day and another during the night. For example, the dayunits may be arranged on the reflecting surface to spell out the wordopen and similarly the units which reflect light back to the source maybe arranged to spell out the word closed.

The invention is capable of an extremely wide use by reason of itssimplicity both in manufacture and as regards its utilization. It iseasily manufactured from inexpensive materials and in an size, and, infact, sizes so small that the particular design of each reflecting unit'or facet is unnoticeable. When the material is so made, it is obviouslycapable of uses that larger reflectors are incapable of. For example,where portions of the reflecting material are blocked or cut out to forma certain pattern or letter, the

. effect of a definite outline is not obtained unless It is contemplatedthat the finished reflectin material be of such nature that it may beeasily cut to predetermined shape with simple tools, for example as by apair of shears or knife. It is Q also capable of being produced inpredetermined shapes in mass quantities by stamping means or othermethods. The reflecting material may have one or both of its surfacescovered with an adhesive whereby it may be easily secured to othersurfaces directly from the roll of reflecting material or it may beapplied to a surface in a manner similar to the attachment of wall paperto 4 a wall by an interior decorator; that. is. by the application of apaste or other similar material to the wall surface and the subsequentapplication of the sheet reflecting material thereto. It

is further contemplated that the reflecting surface of the sheetmaterial be preferably of a plastic material such-as may not 'be easilyiniured or if it be injured the remainder or uninjured portion of thereflector may not be rendered ineffective.

The plastic substance on the surface of the V reflecting material maynot only function as a protecting medium therefor but it may serve as aretracting medium definitely directing the rays of light in accordancewith the laws of optics in.

It will be seen from the above that applicant has ingeniously devised areflecting material capable of many uses in different manners and ofsuch a simple nature whereby it may be fabricated of the simplest andleast inexpensive materials and installed or secured with the simplestof tools. It is to be understood that where I have used the expressionrelatively shallow substantially contiguous face or an equivalentexpression in the claim, that the word "shallow is not to be construedas being shallow with respect to the thickness of the sheet reflectorbut simply meaning not so deep as to make the reflecting material sothick as to prevent its flexing. This will perhaps be better understoodif reference is made to the drawings wherein the facets are disclosed asbeing almost as deep as the thickness of the sheet material.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in my device without departing from the spirit of the inventionand therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification but only as indicated in the appendedclaim.

What I claim is:

A relatively large flexible sheet reflector having indentations formedon one of its surfaces in accordance with the laws of optics to reflectlight, some of said indentations being formed to reflect light from thesky in a generally horizontal direction when the flexible sheetreflector is in a generally vertical plane, said indentations comprisinginclined plane reflecting surfaces, and a second set of indentationsformed on said surface and designed to reflect light in the generaldirection of a second source of light so as to tenth of an inch.

produce an autocollimating effect. said second set of indentations eachcomprising three plane surfaces each of which are at right angles to theother, all of said indentations being of such relatively small size ascompared with the outlines of said sheet that the general outlines ofsaid sheet will not appear substantially disfigured to an observer atrelatively close range, the refleeting units formed by the saidindentations being of such design as to reflect substantially all thelight transmitted to them from a light source, the depth of the unitsbeing very small and ranging insize up to approximately one moons. G.Lmuomsnu. (References on following page) REFERENCES CITED Number Thefollowing references are of record In the tile 01' this patent: I2,275,824 STATES PATENTS 5 2,310,790

Number Name Date 285,270 Jaeger Sept. 18, 1883 1,562,835 Kuttler Nov.24, 1925 ag 1,858,975 TaBois May 17, 1932 511107 1,950,560 Martinek eta1 Mar.13, 1934 341'179 2,043,690 Arbuckle et a1. June 9, 1936 752'9492,123,478 Smith July 12, 1938 438236 2,187,149 Grote July 25, 1939 NameDate Ryder Aug. 29, 1939 Stimson June 25, 1940 Kirkpatrick Mar. 10, 1942Jungersen Feb. 9, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date. France May 8, 1926Germany Oct. 25, 1930 Great Britain Jan. 15, 1931 France July 31, 1933Great Britain Nov. 13, 1935

